Page 22 of The Duke's Pet

“That is foolish.” He raised his eyebrows.

“It was all my father could afford to buy, and generally it wasn’t so bad. It flooded badly about once every seven years. Usually we’d have provisions for such an event.”

“So why didn’t you this time?”

She glanced away, remembering the awful week both her parents had succumbed to illness. “With just me on the farm it wasn’t something I’d been able to do.”

“It must have been frightening.” He set a teacup beside her. “To have lost everything.”

“Yes, Sir.” She looked up at him. “It was.”

“And I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” She paused. “As I am sorry for yours.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What do you know of it?”

“Not much, only that you lost your wife some time ago.”

He took a sip of tea then set his cup down. It clinked on the saucer. He stood and paced to the window. Hands on hips, he stared out at the garden and hills beyond.

She studied his ass. His trousers were tight. His buttocks were high and pert, no sign of too much lard or port. She wondered what it would look like without his clothing.

“We’d been married for three days,” he said. “When Madeline died.”

“That must have been very hard.”

He didn’t speak. She thought he wasn’t going to, but then he pushed his hand through his hair and turned. “Yes, it nearly broke me. So you’ll forgive me for taking a pet, a little kitten, this time around.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Losing a wife is brutal to the heart.” He tapped his chest. “A pet I can cope with.”

“Why would you lose me?”

“Because I have only hired your services for one week.” He swept his hand around the room. “What if I don’t like it here alone once you have gone?”

She was silent and reached for an apple pastry. That hadn’t been a concern she’d expected him to have.

“I will tell myself it is a pet that has gone, a kitten; that is much easier than losing a woman.”

“I guess.” She didn’t really understand his logic, or wasn’t entirely sure if he was being serious. But he seemed as if he was, as if he believed what he was saying to her. So she nodded and swallowed. There was another pastry to be eaten.

“A little kitten, you see.” He paced up to her, cupped her chin and halted her chewing. “Who is here because I have hired her is a different game to a wife entirely.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“I can’t expect you to truly understand at this point. But you will.” He released her chin and picked up his tea.

After sipping it a couple of times, he pointed to his painting again. “Now I will work and you will remain quiet so as not to disturb my concentration.”

He walked to his easel, tucking in his shirt on the way, as if just noticing it had been hanging loose.

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